The road home for newborns who must spend the first days, weeks or even months of their lives in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is always difficult. But it's often even more so for their parents and siblings. To make this family journey easier, Baylor All Saints Medical Center's Andrews Women's Hospital has teamed up with the NICU Helping Hands Foundation (NHHF) to host Project NICU, a first-of-its-kind program in Tarrant County.
Project NICU, which launched June 15 at Baylor Fort Worth's Andrews Women's Hospital, greatly expands support services and the level of education provided to families affected by the hospitalization of a newborn in the NICU.
"The infant mortality rate in Tarrant County has risen to rates higher than the Texas average," explains Janice Whitmire, MBA, administrator of Baylor Fort Worth's Andrews Women's Hospital. "We have long had a Level III NICU that provides advanced medical care for critically ill babies. Now, through Project NICU, we can offer the kind of robust support programs and comprehensive resources that families of these special babies need to cope with what is often a full-blown family crisis–resources that may not be available anywhere else."
NHHF was founded in July 2010 by Once Upon a Time, a local foundation that supports educational and health-related initiatives. NHHF Board President Lisa Grubbs says that over the past year, her organization has researched NICU family support programs and interviewed NICU leaders at hospitals throughout the country. Project NICU was developed based on what they learned.
"A lot of times the support services for parents and siblings are provided by staff who are already maxed out with their main job responsibilities," says Grubbs. "Project NICU offers a full-time program facilitator that's in the unit 40 hours a week, providing 40 hours of family contact and support."
The onsite program facilitator is charged with coordinating the many resources and evidence-based educational opportunities offered through Project NICU. These include:
- materials to support parents as they manage the day-to-day realities of the NICU;
- weekly support groups for parents of preterm infants;
- monthly education groups for parents and siblings, featuring neonatologists and other NICU staff members;
- special programs that tend to families experiencing antepartum care, transport of an infant from birth hospital to the Baylor Fort Worth NICU, and bereavement services;
- family activities such as photography and scrapbooking for their baby; and
- NICU staff development opportunities.
However, the program has another big focal point that separates it from many similar initiatives.
"One of the things research shows is that peer-to-peer support–having someone who can say ‘I've been there before, and there is light at the end of the tunnel'–is the best way to help parents dealing with the birth of a premature infant," says Grubbs.
Project NICU's weekly parent support meetings involve parents of both current and former NICU patients. In addition, the program facilitator can match current NICU parents with former NICU parents who can be one-on-one mentors they can lean on for information, encouragement and strength.
A Highly Sought Program
Before settling on launching Project NICU at Baylor Fort Worth, NHHF reviewed extensive applications from other area hospitals.
"It was a very competitive process," says Whitmire. "After we applied, they came out and met with administration and nursing staff to ask us questions and allow us to ask them questions. When we heard they picked us, we were very honored and very excited."
Grubbs says she came away very impressed after meeting Whitmire and her team. "We felt like Baylor Fort Worth was the best choice for the program. We really liked meeting with the administrative team, which is so focused on doing whatever is best for babies and families," she says.
Since Baylor Fort Worth's Andrews Women's Hospital opened in 2008, it has been committed to providing a full continuum of care to women and their babies, including a 63-bed NICU. Whitmire believes Project NICU is an extension of that continuum and calls the program a "true gift."
"Our staff couldn't wait to learn more about it, and I know parents were asking about it before it even officially launched," she says. "However, the physicians on our medical staff were probably the most excited because they can tell their patients that not only will they be taken care of by great nurses, but there is this great new resource available if they need it."
Contact:
Susan Hall
(214) 820-1817
SusanH@BaylorHealth.edu
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